Magnetic and radio echo soundings, geophysical measurements and gravity surveys of the Transantarctic Mountains and the McMurdo Sound area

An aerial survey of magnetics and radio echo soundings were made from two Dornier 228 aircrafts covering an area approximately 650km x 200km large over the Transantarctic Mountains and the Ross Sea/McMurdo Sound area. Geophysics ground checks were completed to make geophysical measurements in areas of geological significance and where major anomalies were detected by the airborne magnetic profiling. Helicopter supported gravity surveys from the Ross Sea to the East Antarctic Ice Shield at a station northwest of Mt Melbourne and in areas where special anomalies were detected were completed. Local radio-echo sounding measurements accompanying the gravity measurements were made to establish the ice thickness. The areas visited include the Priestley Glacier, Mesa Range, Browning Pass, the Frontier Mountains, Timber Peak, Mt Melbourne, Edmonson Point, Cape Washington, Okane Glacier, Tourmaline Plateau, Gerlache Inlet, Mt Queensland, McMurdo Sound and the polar plateau. These surveys and measurements were designed to investigate the boundary fault between the Ross Sea and the Transantarctic Mountains, investigate the boundary fault between the West Antarctic fold belt and the East Antarctic Shield, investigate the Bowers Zone and its tectonic significance including its extension into the Ross Sea area and to investigate the northern part of the Victoria Land Basin and its connection with the Bowers Zone.